London | India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy struck twice in an eventful over to leave England at 83 for two at lunch on day one of the Lord's Test here on Thursday.
On expected lines, Prasidh Krishna made way for Jasprit Bumrah as the sole change in the Indian playing eleven.
Ben Stokes, only for the second time in the Bazball era, opted to bat in a home game.
The trio of Bumrah, Akash Deep and Mohamed Siraj did ask a few questions but England opening duo of Ben Duckett (23 off 40) and Zak Crawley (18 off 43) survived the first hour of play, reaching 39 for no loss in 13 overs.
Due to the unique slope, the Indian bowlers understandably took some time to get used to the up and down nature of the ground while running in.
Bumrah bowled from both Pavillion End and Nursery End while Akash Deep, who took a match haul of 10 at Edgbaston, bowled with the new ball from Nursery End.
Captain Shubman Gill could have brought back Akash Deep after the first hour, instead he gave the ball to Reddy from the Nursery End and he did not disappoint.
The first breakthrough was a rather lucky one with Duckett gloving a short ball on the leg side to wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant.
Ollie Pope could have been dismissed in the very next ball but Gill could not latch on to a tough chance at gully.
The last ball of the over produced the wicket of Crawley. It was a beauty that seamed away from length, inducing an outside edge on the way to the keeper.
Though the crowd capacity at the hallowed ground is little over 30,000, it seemed the whole of London was flocking to the venue with a sea of fans emerging from the St. John's Wood tube station close by.
Test cricket may be struggling for a regular attendance in some nations, but the sell out crowd in this series so far has reaffirmed the fact that the traditional format continues to thrive in this country.
Fans have also flown in from India for the marquee fixture with a family from Bengaluru shelling out as much as 1200 pounds for three tickets bought from touts outside the ground.
Scoreboard at lunch on Day One of the third Test between India and England here on Thursday.
England 1st innings:
Zak Crawley c Pant b Reddy 18
Ben Duckett c Pant b Reddy 23
Ollie Pope batting 12
Joe Root batting 24
Extras: 6 (b-1, lb-4, nb-1)
Total: 83/2 in 25 overs
Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-44
Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 8-1-13-0, Akash Deep 7-2-33-0, Mohammed Siraj 5-2-17-0, Nitish Kumar Reddy 5-0-15-2.
